Metallic rod packing



Aug. 12,- 1930. J. BADEKER I METALLIC non PACKING Filed Jan. 2, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /OH VflADZKER.

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Aug. 12, 1930. J. BADEKER uE LLIC ROD PACKING Filed Jan. 2, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Swan doe:

Jomv BADEKER Patented Aug. 12 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE JOHN'BADEKER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS METALLIC ROD I-ACKING Application filed January 2, eaa' SeriaI No. 78,933.

' vide, in a metallic packing, a packing-ring having no open or clearance spaces between the segments thereof, whereby a fluid-tight joint may be formed at either end-face of the ring, andwherein the segmentation of 10 the packing-ring is such that the same may close, to compensate wear of the contacting surfaces or to accommodate slight variation in the diameter of diflerent portions of the rod, without requiring deformation or change 15 of form of the segments, except loss of ma terial at the wearing surfaces. further object of my invention is to provide a packingring wherein the fluid pressure exerted upon the peripheral portion of the ring may serve effectively to maintain the segments in contact with each other and with the rod and to prevent opening of the joints of the ring under any conditions to which the rin may be subject when in use. A further ob ect of myinvention is to provide a combined guardring and housing or casing for the packingring, so constructed and arranged that sediment, scale andthe like maybe prevented from lodging and accumulating on the packing-ring, and so that the fluid pressure-upon thering, tending to press the same against the rod and cause excessive wear of or friction between the packing-ring and rod, may be so limited as to enable the packing to be used for very high pressures. Further and more particular objects o'f'my inventionwill be set forth hereinafter. V

Intheaccompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a longitudinal or axial section of a metallic 49 packing embodying my invention, Fig.2 is

an'end view of the packing, Fig. 3 is an axial 7 section of the ring on the line 33 of Fig. 2, Fig. ais an end view of the series 'of segments which compose half of the ring/the alterna'teor adjacent segments beingremoved, Fig. 4 is a-view of a single segment similar tothose shown in 4 but with the tongue and'headportions in reversed relation, Fig. 5 is an'end" view of a packing-ring formed by'segmentsfof a slightlymodified form,

Fig. 6 is an axial section of the ring on the line 66 of Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is an end view of the alternate segments of the same ring, Figs. 8 and'9 are perspective'views of a pair of segments of the ring shown in Figs. 2 to 4:, inclusive, said pair of segments being axially displaced or separated, Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the pair of segments in normal, or contacting relation to formone of the ring-sectors, Fig. 11 is an end view of a portion of a packing-ring, showing a modified form of the axial joint, Fig. 12 is a side View of the same, Fig. 13 is an end View "of aportion of a packing-ring, showing another modified form of axial joint, and 14 is a side View of the same.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, there is represented 'a piston-rod 20, having the usual enlarged end portion 21 for connection with its crosshead, said rod passing through the stuffing-box 22 in the cylinderhead 23. A gland 24 is removably secured to the head 23 by means of stud-bolts 25 and nuts 26. A Z-ring 27' has its outer flange clamped between the gland and head, and a portion of said ring extends into the stuflingbox. I ithin the Z-ring is slidably disposed the follower-ring 28, and the inner end of said ring has therein a plurality of cylindrical recesses in which are disposed the follower-springs 29, said springs engaging the inner flange of the Z-ring and tending to push the follower therefrom outwardly into the gland. The openings through the gland 24, follower-ring 28, Z-ring 27,, and head 23 are of such diameter as to allow the enlarged end 21' of the rod to pass through them, so that said parts maybe assembled by passing the same longitudinally over said large end of the rod. i

'Between'the inner face of the gland and thef'outer face of thefollower ring' are disposed the guard-rings3O and 31', of which the bore or inner diameter is such that, they fit easily'upon the rod. As' said guard-rings cannot be passed over the enlarged end 21 of the rod,to enable assembly thereof about the rod each'ring' is divided upon an axial plane into two symmetrical parts as indicated by dotted lines in Fig.1, the halves of each ring being held together by an annular retainingspring 32 disposed in a peripheral groove of the ring. The ends of the ring-halves at the axial plane are fitted together to form fluidtight joints, and the outer end-face of the ring forms a fluid-tight joint with the inner face of the gland. At the adjacent ends or faces of the rings 30 and 31 the same have projecting flanges adjoining their peripheries, and the ends of said flanges fit together to form a fluid-tight joint between the rings at their outer portions, while adjacent to the rod and between the bodies of the rings a chamber 33 is formed for receiving the packing-ring. The pressure of the followerring upon the ring 31 is transmitted through the abutting flanges of the rings to the ring 30, said flanges being thus held together, and the end-face of the ring 30 being pressed against the inner face of the gland, without any of the follower-pressure being applied to the packing-ring. The packingrring fits slidably betwen the rings 30 and 31, and forms a fluid-tight joint with the rod and the ring 30, being held against said ring 30 solely by fluid pressure. The fluid pressure from the cylinder is limitedly admitted to the ringchamber 33 through the loose joint formed about the rod through the bore of the ring 31, and between said ring 31 and thepackingring. The width of the space betweenv the packing-ring and ring 31 is greatly exaggerated in the drawing, and in practice said parts may fit closely enough to substantially ex clude scale and sediment from the ring-chamber, and to limit the admission of fluid pressure thereto. The deposit of foreign substancesuponthe packing-ring, which would interfere with free movement of the ringsegments, is thus prevented, and excessive fluid pressure upon the ring is also avoided. Sufiicient clearance is allowed within the ring-chamber 33 to permit a slight lateral movement of the packing-ring relative to the casing formed by the guard-rings, and, in the gland-chamber about the guard-rings, clearance is allowed such. as to accommodate the lateral movements of the rod which result from looseness ofthe piston and crosshead, and nus-alignment thereof with the axis of the opening through the gland.

V As-the guard rings contact slid-ably on a transverse plane-intersecting the ring -cham-' her, it will be seen that should the. rod be slighl't'y tilted or angularly mis-alignedv with the gland, so; that the axis of the rod. is. not perpendicular tot-he inner face of the gland, such missalignmentmay be accommodated. by relative lateral movement; of the guard-rings a which; may thus remain. parallel with. the

gland-face and. maintain fluidrtighti contact therewith and. with. each. other,-. instead of being displaced. from such contact 'bythe l l sat he ed,

' -he;-pack;ing iring I provided by my ,invena a no ...,oo

tion is especially characterized by its division substantially upon axial planes into a plurality of similar sectors, each of said sectors consisting of a pair of segments having portions which overlap and fit together upon a common chordal plane. In the structure shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the ring consists of three sectors, the ends of each sector being plane-surfaces 34 which, if extended or prolonged inwardly, would intersect longitudinally the axis of the ring, and which are therefore herein designated as axial planes. As above mentioned, each sector of the ring is formed by a pair of segments, and each of the segments may be regarded, for convenience of description, as consisting of two portions, namely an end or head portion 35 and a tongue or lapping portion 36, it being understood that said portions 35 and. 36 of each segment are integral. The thickness of the tongue portions 36 ispreferably half the total thickness of the packing-ring, and. when so proportioned the segments of each pair are identical in form and merely disposed in r'eversed relation; but the thickness of the tongue portion of one segment-may be greater than half the total thickness of the ring if the tongue of the other segment of the. pair is correspondingly thinner. In each'segment the head portion 35 is the full thickness of the ring, and at the end surface 34 said portion extends radially from the bore to the periphery of the ring. The shoulder or offset of the head portion, adjoining the. tongue, is a chordal plane surface 37 which is alined with the chordal inner surface 33 of'the re:- spective tongue. It will be seen. that when a pair of the segments are placed togethenwith the chordal surface 38 of the/tongue ofone segment engaging the chordal? surface 37 of the head of the other segment, the pair of segments complete the full sector of the ring, and fill all the space thereof from bore to periphery except at the outer pointed ends 39- of the tongues, which are slightly stubbed or shortened to terminate inside the periphery of the ring, as-shown. The form of the segments, and the fitting of a pair thereof together to form the ring-sector. will be clearly apparent from Figs. 8, 9 and 10, the lattershowing the segments engaged, and the first two figures showing thev segments separated axially of the bore.

' Y In that formofthe ring shownirr 2, the-chordal: surfaces 37 and 38; aretangent to the here, so that if said ring weneldisposed about a rod no portion ofthe tongueso'fthe segments would? engage the. rod, and themed.- contact would be solely: with the head. per.- tions of the segments.- If the ring. bebored to a larger mside-diameten. asto thedotted line b in said Fig. 2,'then the chordal: planes intersect the bore, and short. portions-0f the tongues at; the center of each.sectonwillenzgage the rod. Such" a 'formationwiseneprei sented in Fig. 10, and a similar formation results when the ring becomes worn.

The peripheral portions of the segments are grooved to receive annular retainingsprings 40, by which the segments are pressed yieldingly inward and retained in contact with the rod at times when the ring is not subject to fluid pressure. It will be understood, however, that the principal force effective to close the ring upon the rod is the fluid pressure exerted upon the peripheral portion of the ring when the same is in use. During the closing of the ring upon the rod to compensate wear of the rod-engaging surfaces, each segment moves inwardly in the direction of its axial end-surface 34, and the resultant relative movement of each pair of segments is toward each other along their contacting chordal surfaces. All of the jointsurfaces of the ring thus remain in fluidtight contact with each other during the closing of the ring, and while the same undergoes the slight expansions and contractions required to accommodate variations in the diameter of different portions of the rod as the same pass through the ring, and no leakage past the ring will occur unlessthe variations of the rod diameter are so great that there are appreciable differences between the arc of curvature at the bore of a segment and that of the adjacent rod-surface.

The segment shown in Fig. 4 has the head portion 35 thereof at the end of the tongue portion 36 oppositely to the head portions on the first described segments. These two forms of segments are essentially the same, being merely righthand and left-hand variations.

Instead of making the chordal surfaces of the segments tangent to the bore. or intersecting the bore as before mentioned, said surfaces may be more remote from the bore, or tangent to a circle concentric with and larger than the bore. In such case, the inner end of the head. of asegment, between the bore and chordal face, does not terminate in a thin edge as in the first-mentioned forms, but is a short plane surface 41 perpendicular to the chordal face and extendingtherefrom in to the bore. Such a structure is shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. In'said figures also, the ring is formed by four pairs of segments, each pair a comprising one sector of the ring, as before,

and terminating at the axial planes or end surfaces 341. The tongue portions 361 of the segments have short lugs 42 which extend inwardly from the chordal faces to the bore, said lugs of each pair of segments overlapping as shown clearly in Fig. 5, and there being small clearance-spaces between said lugs and the end surfaces 41 of the heads 351. It will be noted that said clearance-spaces are of small radial extent, and do not prevent the formation of a fluid-tight joint at either end-face of the packing-ring when the latter, abuts a surface perpendicular to'the rod. It will also be :noted that if the ring be bored for a larger rod, as to the linerb in Fig. 5, the chordal faces will be tangent to said larger bore, or intersect the same, and the lugs 42 will be cut away; A somewhat similar, but not identical, formation results when the ring is worn. f

InFigs. 1'1 and 12 is shown a variant formation of the ends of the ring-sectors, in which said ends are concavo-convex andcylindri- 'cally curved about an axis parallel with the ring-axis. ,The curved ends 342 are formed on'the heads 352 of thesegments, and the tongues 362 of the segments may be the same as the tongues 36 of the first described forms. A further variant formation of the ends of the ring-sectors is shown in Figs. 13 and 14, in which said ends areplane surfaces 343 having a circumferentially extending shoulder or-oifset 43 in a plane intermediate the end-faces ofthe ring, as best shownin Fig. 14. Theheads 353 of the segments at adjacent ends of the ring-sectors thus overlap, and are enabled to-prevent leakage at said joints should the contact of theaxial surfaces 343 not be perfect. [The tongues 363 may have the same formationas the tongues 36 of the first described form.

In the operation of the described metallic packing, it will be seen that the assembly comprising the packing-ring and the guardrings 30 and 31, is freely movable laterally within the gland to accommodate lateral variations or movements of the rod, said assembly being substantially a packing-unit which partakes of all movement'of the rod exceptthe longitudinal reciprocation thereof. The housing or casing, formed by the rings 30 and 31, is held against the gland by the follower, and all of the follower-pressure is received upon said casing and not upon the packing-ring, which is thus free. or floating within the casin The housing or casing also excludes substantially all sediment, scale and the like from the packing-ring, so that the deposit of such substances upon said ring, and consequent interference with free movement of its segments, cannot occur. Because of the small clearance between the ring 31 rod which pass through the packing While the cylinder' pressure is greatest.

Because of the fact that the packing-ring is not pinched or clamped axially, and also 5 because" the ring has no clearance-spaces which are subject to closure by relative cir- 'cuinferenti'al movement of the segments, and for the further reason that the overlapping chordal surfaces of the segments have the greatest possible area of contact proportionally to the radial thickness of the ring, it Will be clearly apparent that circumferential shifting of the segments relative to each other, and consequent opening of the joints and pounding 'or impact of the segments against each other, cannot occur under any conditions to Which the packing-ring is subject When in use, As bending or other deforniation of the ring-segments is not required to 0 enable closingof the ring, and as the reduced closing-pressure exerted upon the ring result's'in moderate frictional pressure of the ring upon the rod, I prefer to make the ringsegments of material which is Wholly non '25 deformable, such as cast iron, instead of the softer bearing-'Inetals and alloys commonly used for metallic packing s.

Now, having described invention, What 1 claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent IS:

In a metallic rod-packing, a; packing-ring divided axially into a plurality of like sec tors, each sector'ot the ring comprising a pair of segments having head portions which form the ends of the sector and tongue portions Which form the intermediate outer parts of the sector, said tongue portions overlapping each other axially of the ring and overlapping the head portions chordally and the 40 contacting surfaces of the head and tongue portions in each sector being in the same chordal plane and symmetrical to the ends of the sector. Y

JOHN BADEKER. 

